Board of Directors
Hon. Dr David Hamill AM
Chairperson – Non-Executive Director
Dr Hamill was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 7 August 2020 and as Chair of the Board on 20 October 2020. Dr Hamill has served as a director on the boards of public and private companies, statutory authorities and not for profit and charitable organisations and his experience spans various sectors including transport, health, utilities and education. Dr Hamill was Treasurer of Queensland (1998-2001), Minister for Education (1995-1996), Minister for Transport and Minister Assisting the Premier on Economic and Trade Development (1989-1995) and served as the Member for Ipswich in the Queensland Parliament (1983-2001).
He has a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours from the University of Queensland and attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar for his Master of Arts degree. Dr Hamill was awarded his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland.
Michael Riches
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Mr Riches is an experienced executive with extensive infrastructure, regulatory and operational experience across multiple industries throughout Australia. Before DBI, Mr Riches was the Chief Executive Officer at Axicom, the owner of more than 2,000 mobile phone towers across Australia, where he led a customer transformation program that secured longer term contracts with key customers, ultimately positioning the business for a successful sale to an Australian Super and Singtel owned tower company. Prior to Axicom, Mr Riches was Group Executive, Network at Aurizon Holdings Limited for three years where he was the architect of, and responsible for the negotiation with customers to execute, the UT5 regulatory reform that delivered substantial benefits to the Queensland coal industry. Mr Riches’ corporate life began at Alinta Energy where over almost six years he held a number of senior executive roles. From 1993 to 2010 Mr Riches was a lawyer in private practice, specialising in the financing of mergers and acquisitions and major infrastructure projects, and was a partner of Minter Ellison and Clayton Utz from 2000. Mr Riches holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Bronwyn Morris AM
Non-Executive Director
Ms Morris was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 30 October 2020. Ms Morris is a chartered accountant and a former partner of KPMG. She has over 25 years’ experience on the boards of entities in the publicly listed, unlisted, government and not for profit sectors. Ms Morris has considerable experience with regulated organisations across numerous industry sectors including infrastructure, utilities and financial services. Ms Morris is currently chair of The Star Entertainment Qld Custodian Pty Ltd and a director of Data#3 Limited and MAHQ Toowoomba Limited.
Ms Morris has a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting from the University of Queensland and is a Fellow of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.
Dr Eileen Doyle
Non-Executive Director
Dr Doyle was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 30 October 2020. She is a seasoned executive and non-executive director. She has more than 30 years of experience in innovation in large companies, small to medium sized enterprises and start-ups. Dr Doyle has been a director of Boral Ltd, GPT Ltd, OneSteel Ltd, Oil Search Ltd and Bradken Ltd. Dr Doyle is the past Chair of Port Waratah Coal Services and Deputy Chair of CSIRO. She is presently a director of SWOOP Analytics Pty Ltd, NextDC Ltd and Hunter Angels Trust.
Dr Doyle holds a PhD in Applied Statistics from the University of Newcastle and was Australia’s first Fulbright Scholar in Business Management for which she attended Columbia University. Dr Doyle is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Association of Angel Investors.
Tom Laidlaw
Non-Executive Director
Mr Laidlaw has more than 25 years of experience across the infrastructure and energy sectors, with a strong record of leadership in the financing, operation and growth of large-scale, capital-intensive assets. This experience was gained from advising infrastructure clients of Macquarie Group and as the long serving CEO of infrastructure fund manager, Foresight Australia. Mr Laidlaw is currently a Non-Executive Director for the Port Authority of New South Wales as well as a Non-Executive Director for the Spark Infrastructure portfolio, holding concurrent board positions across its core operating utilities, including SA Power Networks and Victoria Power Networks. He is a former Non-Executive Director of many companies including Flinders Ports and Kinetic Group.
Mr Laidlaw holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws from the Flinders University of South Australia and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Pam Bains
Non-Executive Director
Pam Bains has over 30 years international experience in finance and leadership roles across infrastructure, telecommunications, retail and financial services. She has been a non-executive director of NBN Co since March 2022, is a member of the Board Audit and Risk Committee, Board Nomination Committee and chairs the Board People, Safety and Sustainability Committee. Prior to her non-executive career, Pam served as Group Executive Network of Aurizon Holdings Limited for 5 years and she held other senior leadership roles at Aurizon, including Chief Financial Officer and Group Executive Strategy. She played a key role in Aurizon’s initial public offering and its 2010 listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, as well as in the company’s capital restructuring and the separation of its Network business. She also led a range of transformation and regulatory reform initiatives. Prior to joining Aurizon, Pam was the Head of Finance, Customer Service at Telefonica O2 UK, a subsidiary of one of the largest global integrated broadband and telecommunications providers. She has held senior management roles at Next PLC, General Electric and Arthur Andersen.
Pam holds a BA (Honours) Accounting and Finance, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a member of Chief Executive Women.